CHAPTER NINE
[ S01, EP09 : "Trapped" ]
The smell of warm, freshly made coffee filled Amelia's nostrils as she stepped into the local coffee shop. She had swapped her shift around in work, so she had the day off but would have to work the next day instead. She didn't want to but the 118 had encouraged her to go so she could meet up with Joel. The 118 it was more like Hen and Chimney had bugged Bobby into changing Amelia's start time, so she could enjoy herself.
Hen and Chimney hadn't known Amelia more than a few months, but they had already become two of her favourite people; even though they could be annoying, much like a big sister and big brother could be.
Along with her twin bond with Buck being stronger than ever, she was finally starting to feel happy again. She loved her job, she felt safe and at home, had great friends. She couldn't ask for more.
The coffee shop door closed quietly behind her as she looked around, scanning the area to find Joel. She spotted him sitting alone at a table one over from the window. He looked up from his phone and smiled and waved when he saw her. "Hey, I'm glad you could make it." He said as she approached him.
"I got lucky that my captain changed my shift." Amelia said as she sat in the chair opposite him. "I wasn't sure he would but he obviously did eventually, after some convincing."
"From you?"
"Nope. The ones I work with."
Joel chuckled lightly. "They seem like a great bunch, making you go on dates and such."
"They're good people, a little annoying but good."
"I look forward to meeting them one day."
One day. Amelia had never introduced any romantic interest of hers to anyone before, mainly because all romantic interests before Joel were complete assholes and weren't worth introducing to anybody. But Joel was different, at least that's what Amelia was telling herself. She was hoping that after her past loves, if you could call them that, she had finally found a good one.
At least she was hoping he was different. She definitely thought he was good looking, there was no denying that. She just hoped his personality was as good as his looks. She had partially opened her mouth to begin talking when Joel's phone began to ring. She glanced down to look at the screen, but Joel quickly picked it up and declined the call; making sure to put the phone screen down afterwards.
Frowning slightly, Amelia flicked her eyes back up to meet Joel's. "You're not gonna answer that?" She asked.
"Nah, it's just my cousin. Nothing important." Joel said.
"Are you sure? There's always the chance tha-"
"It's nothing."
The frown on Amelia's face became a little more defined as Joel snapped at her. The man's face softened slightly as he saw the frown on the blonde's face. "I'm sorry. Sorry." He sighed.
"It's okay. I'm not a fan of people pressing me about things either." Amelia said. "Should we pretend that it never happened?"
A small smile stretched at the corner's of Joel's mouth as he nodded his head. "I'd like that very much." His smile extended to take up most of his face, as did the newly etched smile on Amelia's face.
⪻ ★ ⪼
"So, how was it?" Hen grinned as she walked down the aisle of the convenience store with Amelia by her side. Their kids had started to become fast friends, so they would often plan movie nights or fun days out to let the kids spend time together.
This night in particular was movie night and it was Olivia's turn to choose the movie, and she had picked out Hocus Pocus. It was one of her favourite movies and was determined to make it one of Denny's too.
"It was okay." Amelia said, finally answering her friend's question. "It felt really strange to be out on a date again, if you could even call it that. But it was nice."
"So, are you going to see him again?" Hen asked, throwing a bag of chips into the basket the blonde was holding.
"Yeah, I think so." Amelia replied. "I mean, I don't know when but I will. It'd probably just be another coffee date or something, so it's not going to be anything special."
Hen stopped walking and stood in front of Amelia, bringing the now confused blonde to a stop. "You don't need to be so scared to let people into your life, Mia." She said.
"I'm not. I'm just scared to let guys in." Amelia said. "Almost every guy I have ever let into my life as screwed me over. The last one even-"
She tightly closed her mouth before she let anymore words slip out. The middle of a convenience store was not the time or place to dump almost twenty six years worth of trauma on somebody. "Long story short, all the men I've been with here assholes and I'm just hoping that Joel is different." She said.
"I'm sure he is. You deserve to have somebody that's good to you." Hen said, earning a smile from the blonde. Hen's phone began to ring and she dug it out of her pocket. Frowning, she answered the call. "Hello?"
⪻ ★ ⪼
As they walked into a modern looking house, Amelia and Hen both called out to Athena and heard a faint reply coming from the bedroom. The two ran in the direction the older woman's voice came from and through an opened bedroom door.
"What the..."
They both stood there staring at the scene in front of them.
On the bed was an almost completely naked man, Aaron, a half-undressed Athena and they stuck; via the handcuffs keeping them stuck to the headboard. "The hell?" Hen questioned.
"Hen, um..." Athena muttered as she placed a pillow over the man's crotch. She sighed quietly before looking up at Hen and Amelia who were laughing about the whole thing, despite the embarrassed and annoyed look on the police sergeants face. "Are you two done?" Athena asked.
"I think...we..." Amelia tried to get her words out, but she and Hen fell into each other as they continued laughing. "Athena, I thought...I don't know what the hell I thought." Hen chuckled.
"You called 9-1-1 for this?!" Amelia smirked.
"9-1-1 is the only damn number I have memorized!" Athena sighed. "Everything else is in my phone, which is over there with my belt and the key."
"They key!" Hen chuckled.. "You need the key? You called us over here to walk across the room to get you the key out of your belt?"
"She wouldn't let me call anyone saved in my phone." Aaron said.
"What?" Athena questioned, looking down at him. "And have one of your frat boy friends come over here and catch me like this? You must be out of your mind."
"I was never in a frat." Aaron said.
With a couple of tears in the corners of her eyes from laughing so much, Amelia managed to walk over to get the key from the sergeants belt and picked it up. "Alright, let me...let me just..." She chuckled as she walked over to the bed. "Let me just unlock you then."
"Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh." Athena shook her head. "Did I ask you too? Just put it right there where I can get to it."
"Seriously?" Hen questioned.
"Mm-hmm. We good. You can go."
"M'kay. Well, damn." Amelia said as she placed the key on the nightstand. Hen picked the belt up and left it next to the bed. "I'mma just leave this here in case ya'll wanna get kinky with the taser."
Just as relief from them starting to leave began to wash over Athena, the pair quickly ran back laughing and took a selfie. "You really need to go!" Athena said.
"Alright, alright." Hen chuckled before she left with Amelia. Even after the two had left the room, they could be heard laughing until they left the house.
⪻ ★ ⪼
Eleanor Nash rubbed her hands together as she walked into the firehouse that night. She had always found herself to be cold at night, even if the temperature said it was warm out. She had always been like that though, ever since she was a little kid. "Bobby?" She called out.
The house was practically empty, aside from a few firefighters that were hanging about upstairs and she knew her little brother was around here somewhere. She was about to head towards his office when she heard his voice calling her name. She turned around and found him almost racing down the stairs. "Hey, slow down! I don't want you falling!" She said.
"I could say the same thing to you." Bobby said.
It had been weeks since the plane crash but Eleanor still walked with a slight limp, it was worse when she was cold. And Bobby panicked thing she was in a lot of pain when she really wasn't. "What are you even doing here so late?" He asked.
Eleanor replied, "I just got finished up at the station and thought I'd stop by so we could talk."
Nodding his head, Bobby lead his big sister into his office and closed the door so they could talk privately. He sat in his chair while Eleanor sat in one in front of the desk. "What's up?" Bobby asked.
"Chimney told me about what you said to him the other day." Eleanor said.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Bobby said. He chuckled lightly in an attempt to cover up the nerves, but Eleanor saw straight through him. She sighed quietly and leant forward to rest her forearms on the desk.
"He told me about how you said you wanted to be with Marcy and the kids again...and that you were talking about taking your own life." Eleanor's voice was soft and quiet but full of heartbreak. "I told you to come to me if you ever felt like that. Why didn't you call or come to find me?"
"Because I didn't want to worry you." Bobby said. "My whole life you've worried about me...I just didn't want to worry you especially when you're injured."
"Bobby," Eleanor sighed quietly before she continued, "I can recover from injuries but I wouldn't recover from losing you. You're my baby brother, you're all I have."
The fire captain looked down at his hands, not wanting his sister to see the sad look in his eyes. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her or worry her or cause any negativity in her life; but sometimes the grief he felt over losing his wife and kids became so much that it felt like it was crushing him, and the only way out was the end it all.
Sighing quietly, Eleanor stood up and walked around the desk. She pulled Bobby up onto his feet and tightly hugged him. She held him reassuringly while he clung to her like she was going to disappear.
Through thick and thin, the big sister and always protected her little brother; and when it came to the Buckley twins, the five minutes older than you big brother would always protect his little sister.
No matter one would always be there for the other. It didn't matter how much distance separated the Buckley twins or the Nash siblings, they were always there for each other; and they would be until the end of time.
Author note
I know I barely followed 1x09 for this chapter but I wanted to keep the episode
title anyway, because I think it kind of fits for both Bobby and Mia. One is
feels "trapped" by fear while the other feels "trapped" by grief (I hope that
makes sense! <3